I'll be honest, I still have no idea how he wants to play. Nothing makes sense watching the games unfold. We are far to deep, the back 4 drop right back to try and play out from the back. They dont have the ability to do that, so the midfield ends up dropping deeper and deeper to give them an option. We then end up in a practical back 6 and are incredibly easy to push up and defend against. Just get diaz up top, dack in behind. Thomas one side and dolan/hedges the other and get them to play a higher line. At least get our midfield higher up the pitch in areas to do more damage rather than pinned in our own 3rd all game. Play with more urgency and look forward more. Dont be afraid to give the ball away, look to make a positive decision. JDT is paid to coach and improve the players. With each passing week we get worse and worse. No good blaming recruitment, try and do your job first then add in areas the squad lacks. There is an air of inevitability watching this side every week under JDT, its a painful groundhog day.

Not a great endorsement for his coaching ability when the team gets gradually worse the more he coaches them. You would hope for the exact opposite

Not sure what level has to do with it. I have followed rovers a long time, seen some great sides and great players, but when Dack does leave I will look back on his time and performances here as fondly as any player we have had. He was a rare shining light in some dark times for this club

I hope Dack is injured. Because is this is JDT trying some show of power against a club legend who is bursting to play. Then he needs to give his head a wobble. Management is all about dealing with egos and personalities. Trying to mug off Dack is just poor form. Guarantee TM is delighted to see no Dack on the teamsheet

Genuinely wonder how many years following rovers takes off your life expectancy. Manic roller coaster constantly

The really sad thing is I reckon that u21 team tonight would beat last night's starting 11

They can't be. No way the forward players are happy all being played out of position. Plus Dack isn't just popular with the fans. A big dressing room figure being shunned will cause chatter amongst the players

What I don't understand with the passing from the back is, if he trusts his back 3 or 5 to do it. Why does he ask/allow morton to constantly drop so deep to take it off them. Either he doesn't trust them and tells morton to do that or he does trust them and he needs to tell morton to move forward more and take the ball more in the middle and final third and help us create more. The gulf from what turns into a back 7 and the forward 3 is huge

Better to lose the game 1-0 than finish with 10 men. Dear god JDT

Feel for the players. Can't fault the effort, but they are being let down by an absolute tactical shambles. Its an mess. Even the games we win I feel we win in spite of the tactics not because of them. The whole thing needs a massive rethink by JDT and quickly. Penny for Dacks thoughts. Busts his balls in rehab to get back and has to sit on the bench watching players not fit to lace his boots running about like headless chickens

Looks like like for like subs. Sigh.

Strikers wide and a false 9 just blows my mind as a tactic. Just play players in their best positions ffs

To many managers these days trying to reinvent the wheel and make themselves look clever and some sort of tactical genius like pep. Just keep it simple, get you best players in their best positions and fill the gaps around them with what you have left. Then get the ball to said players as quick and often as you can. We have 20-30m of attacking talent in Dack and Diaz and they are either on the bench or feeding on scraps from the left wing while Dolan runs about like a headless chicken playing this daft false 9 role JDT and others insist on

Get Diaz up front and central, get Dack just off him, then fill in after that however you want. But we have to get our 2 biggest goal threats and best players on the field together and in positions they can make the biggest impact

When you play Dolan as a false 9, you have no choice but to play out from the back. The real problem for me isnt really trying to pass it out, I could live with that if it led to anything, but it doesnt match up with the rest of the setup. I have no real idea what we are trying to do going forward. It seems to be keep the ball and hope someone pulls a rabbitt out of hat somewhere in the 90mins. My sanity cant take much more of Gally playing wide, I thought them days would die with TM leaving and Im sure gally do to 😞

After years of saying nothing, this window might give us something of an idea of what Venkys are thinking. If they have any kind of exit strategy or desire to get to the premier league and recoup their debts, then the time to strike is now. The stars seem to be alligning and who knows when we will be in this position again going into January. I think they need to gamlbe now and spend some cash to try and get over the line. For me I wouldnt sign anyone permantley. Id look at the premier league and try and tempt someone out of favour with a good maybe overpriced loan fee. Try and get someone is who to good for this league. The kind of player you couldnt really tempt on a perma deal, but for 6 months on loan in a promotion race, they fancy it. Try and get a difference maker somehwere

They must have roberto carlos at left back if he kept cunningham out every week. Becasue cunningham is looking pretty epic for us. Interested to see how good their actual left back is

This is professional sport. The youngsters need to know the standards required. If they cant handle any cirtiscm, then they are no use to us.

I'll admit I havent seen him a great deal. But JRC looks more of a wing back than a full back to me. Also think it can be more attacking at times when chasing games with the likes of downing, rothwell, chapman etc playing really attacking wing back roles. As for the back 3. The best would be Williams tosin lenihan. With nyambe and cunnigham good enough to play the wider roles also if needed. We are a bit short, but we are a bit short no matter what formation we play after the transfer window.

Heard this a few times, but I'd say the opposite. The teams that have most success with 3 at the back often play full backs as the wider 2 with a proper center back central. Between our collection of full backs are centre backs, we have enough to play a back 3. Also think we have players more suited to wing backs than full backs. I know the postion is very similar. Just think the subtle differences suit our players more

All our money is invested in strikers, plus our POY is one. We badly need a way to get 2 of them on the pitch together, plus Dack in a position he can flourish and do domage as he is arguably our best player. The only way this can happen is 352 or some kind of diamond 4312 formation. Not a fan of the diamond as it leaves us very narrow and would need great full backs and well......lets not go there. So for me that leaves 352. Lets be honest could we really defend any worse, so why not try it? Armstrong could be a real threat if played in a front 2, especially if he is with someone as clever as DG. Also gives BB a chance as no way in hell can he play the lone striker role

Cunnigham should start. I just dont think its Tonys style to put him in this early. Especially when he isnt our player. Hope Im wrong becasue bell is a deer in the headlights, but alas Im sure bell will start

Well we are 1 down before we start, becasue assombolonga will deffo score

You see this with a lot of managers TM's age. They get stubborn and think they know best. It blinds their thinking and they stick with something they shouldnt. Seen it in many a manager his age.

Eventually yes, but he wont do it this weekend. Not the way he works